Chosen Solution

Hello, I am trying to fix a MacBook Pro, but have not before encountered such symptoms. —- What I saw and tried, chronologically:

  • When it came, the laptop would get stuck at the spinning wheel.
  • I removed the HDD, tried to repair it through USB connection on my own Mac, Disk Utility said it was OK;
  • I tried to boot on the “bad” machine and “bad” HDD again, but through USB, got stuck at the spinning wheel;
  • Took it apart: no signs of water damage or past repair; replaced the HDD cable for good measure => the laptop started getting to the prompt at the 94th second;
  • Trackpad works at this point, I could move the mouse around the screen, but when I clicked on “restart” or “shut down” I got nothing;
  • I tried to type use name and password, but the cursor remained stuck on user name, didn’t move or register anything;
  • After a while (2+ minutes, can’t say) the letters I had typed before now appeared in the prompt with a delay. I logged in, and the computer behaved normally;
  • I restarted it, and got the same issue again;
  • Tried 1*4GB RAM 1067 in 1st then 2nd slot. Did not get to the prompt or hardly.
  • I put back the 2*2GB, would still get screen color change at 94 seconds, but the prompt for user/password wouldn’t appear. Once, I got distracted and when I looked back, it was back to the spinning wheel after it had “changed color.

Anyone can suggest what the problem is or how to trouble shoot it? Thanks! Additional info: MacBookPro7,2 / 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo / 2*2GB RAM / Attached: thermal pic of the board, seems OK I believe (outside/around the red area, temp is 45 deg. C)

I ruled out system, HDD and HDD cable failure by trying to log in from an external drive in the absence of an internal drive. I also ruled out RAM failure, unplugged all components from the board, and still had the same issue. The activity monitor showed abnormal activity from the CPU cores. So I sent the laptop to an Apple Certified Service Center. They plugged it and ran a hardware test that failed in a way that suggests CPU or may be a memory issue. I am not qualified nor equipped to attempt a board repair for such an issue, if doable. So I gave it back to the client.

Replace the Hard Drive/IR Cable and use one from the 13” 2012 model. Be sure to get a New one. Here’s how to do it: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 Hard Drive Cable Replacement Here’s the part I replace with, note the width difference: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable